On the night a ceasefire came into effect ending eight days of Israeli slaughter that left 162 people, the vast majority unarmed civilians, dead in Gaza, Dutch columnist and author Leon de Winter proposed adding chemicals to Gaza’s water supply to sterilize the population.

The website PowNed reported that de Winter “made his proposal for forced eugenics yesterday evening in Amsterdam at a solidarity meeting of Dutch Jews,” and that the speech by de Winter was broadcast this morning by Dutch mainstream and publicly-funded Radio 1.

PowNed said:

De Winter responded in his speech to the accusations of genocide leveled against Israel, saying that the population of Gaza had only increased over the last few years. “Maybe we should secretly add some means of birth control to Gaza’s drinking water,” De Winter proceeded to propose.

The suggestion was met with roaring laughter by the public. Among the participants that evening were the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands, Hiam Devon, and the cheerful leader of the SGP party, Kees van der Staaij.

While de Winter, known for his “humor,” might have intended his suggestion as some sort of sick joke, the reported reaction suggests that the audience were only too ready to mock an already dehumanized population.

De Winter’s comment fits neatly with Israel’s racist conception of Palestinians as a “demographic threat” simply because they are not Jews.

Such genocidal comments are particularly disturbing in The Netherlands given the upsurge of Islamophobia and xenophobia in recent years, and because the country had a particularly shameful history of collaboration with the Nazis in deporting Jews to their deaths during the Second World War.

Event backed by major Dutch Jewish communal and Zionist organizations

The 21 November event where de Winter spoke, titled “We Stand with Israel” and held at Amsterdam’s Jewish Cultural Center, was co-sponsored by a who’s who of Jewish communal and Zionist organizations, among them CIDI, Christians for Israel, WIZO (the Women’s International Zionist Organization), Collectieve Israel Actie (Israel Action Collective) and Mifgash, an organization that aims to encourage Jews to leave their home countries and emigrate to Israel.

De Winter’s repulsive comment is reminiscent of a genocidal call by American “academic” and former Harvard University fellow Martin Kramer at a conference in Israel in 2010 for the “surplus” population of Gaza to be reduced by cutting off humanitarian aid.

Daniel Bugel-Shunra, who translated the PowNed post, noted that the reader comments below it indicated little support for de Winter’s statement.

“Quite the contrary, which is a big surprise to me, especially since this website has strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant tendencies,” Bugel-Shunra told The Electronic Intifada.

Yona Metzger tells Geert Wilders his party’s support of a ban on ritual slaughter of animals is ‘anti-Semitic’ and could drive away the Netherlands’ Jewish community.

Israel's leading rabbi has warned Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders that his party's support for a ban of ritual slaughter of animals in the Netherlands is "anti-Semitic" and could drive away the country's Jewish community.

Wilders rose to prominence in the Netherlands denouncing the growing influence of Islam in the West, calling for a ban against Muslim immigrants, a halt to the construction of mosques and a ban on Muslim face-veils.

Some of his most outspoken supporters are in the conservative, pro-Israeli movement in the United States. Wilders calls himself Israel's "greatest friend" and has also proposed creating a national Dutch holiday to commemorate the victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In a letter to Wilders on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, called on Wilders' Freedom Party to stop backing a ban on ritual slaughter.

It is the strongest public condemnation yet of Wilders' position on the policy and comes two weeks before the Netherlands holds a general election September 12 in which he is expected to take a sizeable portion of the vote.

"It is obvious that one cannot be at the same time a friend of Israel and the Jewish people and on the other hand support an anti-Jewish law," Metzger wrote.

"By denying Jews to live according to the Torah you will eventually force them to leave the Netherlands where they enjoyed religious freedom for centuries."

Metzger wrote that he was "shocked and upset to learn that your party once again has adopted a total ban on ritual slaughter in its platform."

"This is the classical anti-Semitic way our rites have been targeted and demonized throughout history," he wrote.

Wilders has transformed the political climate in the Netherlands and his anti-Islam, anti-euro Freedom Party was the third largest in the most recent elections.

Recent polls show Wilders' party winning between 15 and 19 seats in the 150-seat parliament, down from the 24 seats he won in the 2010 election.

Wilders was not immediately available to comment on the letter.

A bill proposed by an animal rights party stating that livestock must be stunned before being slaughtered passed through the lower of house of parliament in June 2011, but did not make it through the senate, where a compromise was reached allowing the practice to continue.

Both Muslim halal and Jewish kosher laws require animals to be conscious when they are put to death. Some 3,500 cows are slaughtered annually according to the Jewish kosher ritual in the Netherlands.

The loss of backing from prominent Jewish leaders could be damaging to Wilders, who has enjoyed support from pro-Israeli and anti-Islam organizations in the United States.

He has received death threats because of his anti-Islam views and has around-the-clock security.

Manfred Gerstenfeld, a prominent Israeli author, said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem that the banning of ritual slaughter has been used in Europe to deter Jews.

"Are you going to support a guy who is at forefront of the anti-Semitism movement in Europe?," he said.

The Netherlands, where Anne Frank hid as a teenager in an Amsterdam canal house until being murdered by the Nazis, had one of the highest rates of Jewish deportation during World War Two.

Today The Rights Forum released an internal EU report about the violence of Israeli settlers. As the sole EU country, the Netherlands recently blocked publication of the report “general reservation”. Because of this, Foreign Minister Rosenthal has to justify himself this evening in a parliamentary debate. Disclosure of the report serves an open and thorough public discussion of the implications of the Dutch Middle East policy, which is urgently desired.

The by The Netherlands blocked report is dated February 2012 and is an update of a report on settler violence that EU diplomats have drafted in April 2011. Report and update paint a shocking picture about the increase and severity of violence of settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property. The update about the year 2011 mentions that 411 incidents of settler violence occurred, a strong increase compared to 2010; that nearly ten thousand trees have been destroyed by settlers; and that the Israeli authorities so far fail to protect the Palestinian population.

The report (1) and update (2) can be read below. The “(*)” behind the title of the update refers to an important sentence at the end of the document: ‘NL places a general reserve on the document “- the reservation with which the Dutch government blocks the report at this time.

The Report and update have been leaked by unknowns through and reached the The Rights Forum indirectly. After publications in NRC Handelsblad and international newspapers, the opposition requested a parliamentary debate. This “public consultation” will be held tonight from 18.30 – 20.30 (Amsterdam Time) and can be followed by live stream on the internet. Also Dutch obstruction of another EU report will be on the agenda. Read also our press release and in-depth information in the file settler violence.

by @abuPessoptimistDirector Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch together with the hysterica Pamela Geller (blog: Atlas shrugs) at a conference of leading Islamophobes and haters of Palestinians (including Dutch politician Wilders) in 2008 in Israel It is increasingly clear that we have a representative seated in the Second Chamber in The Hague, or maybe more than one, of Christians for Israel. The group of Christian Zionists in the Netherlands, whol deliver bulbs of flowers as a sign of friendship to the worst criminals in Israeli settlers. Who are in support of the Israeli settlement program and are against any form of Palestinian resistance – including nonviolent resistance, including boycott of goods from the settlements and even denounce Israeli injustice against Palestinian civilians – which they regards as Palestinian incitement, if not Palestinian ‘antisemitism’. How does that become clear? For example by the following invitation sent by MP Voordewind (ChristenUie) on Jan 24, 2012 to a number of members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs: On behalf of Joel Voordewind I invite you to come for discussion on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the glorification of terrorism. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly we would like to discuss the motion adopted van der Staaij / Voordewind on the Palestinian Authority and the glorification of terrorism. A good example is the continuing payments from the PA to convicted terrorists in Israeli jails. During the budget debate we tried – in vain – to move Minister Rosenthal to move the PA to stop these payments. Secondly, Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch came to the Netherlands especially for the event for the presentation of his book ‘Deception’. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 1st from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m For those who do not know who Itamar Marcus: he is primarily a settler. He lives in Efrat settlement built on land that was taken away from the (predominantly Christian) Palestinian village of Al-Khadr, near Bethlehem. He is a former employee of the Israeli security service Shin Bet, and former associate of Netanyahu, but above all the director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW-PalWatch) that he founded in 1996. PMW has since been responsible for a stream of videos and publications which suppose to show proof of the unreliable, lying, murderous anti-Semitic character of Palestinians. And not to forget their glorification of terrorism, a common used expression by the PMW, who unthinkingly is being adopted by the Christians for Israel among our MPs.

Not so long ago I wrote under the title ” A life in service of slandering the Palestinians “ a long piece about Itamar Marcus. In this post I stated that Mark is not only extremely biased, but totally unreliable. For exmaple he keeps beating the drums about school textbooks in the Palestinian territories with which anything would be wrong. In reality, a number of years ago, a whole new curriculum has been drafted, even including with help of the Dutch government, on which absolutely nothing is to criticize about. He gives numerous examples of aid that the Palestinian Authority grants to “terrorists” in Israeli captivity, in which he not only recalls unreliable numbers (see the answers to recent parliamentary questions by Minister Rosenthal) but completely ignores the fact that all these ‘terrorists’ have been trialed by Israeli military courts based on laws which are totally unrelated to an acceptable legal system, so actually their punishment in many cases, do not pass the test of criticism they might encounter.

It is of no use to repeat my piece as mentioned above. The bottom line is: There are definitely occasions in which some faults of Palestinian expressions (just as it is almost daily the case with Israeli acts against Palestinians). But Itamar Marcus intended goal is to make the Palestinians as black as possible and his openly Islamophobic attitude, is a totally unreliable and even morally unacceptable source.

But there are still two additions to give on what I wrote earlier. These include major sponsors of PMW. One is them is the Michael Cherney Foundation , named after its chairman, the in Uzbekistan born Israeli Michael Cherney.

Cheney is wanted by Interpol for involvement in large-scale money laundering operations in Spain. Wikipedia gives a long list of evidence that Cheey (also known Chenoy) was involved , and presumably also in affairs of the Russian mafia.

Aside from this his name is mentioned in the case Israeli judiciary prepares against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

He allegedly would have bribed Lieberman, who is a friend of his. (Perhaps it is possible the Christian Union makes some inquiries on these issues with Marcus? Or perhaps to ask parliamentary questions?)

The other sponsor is the Central Fund for Israel, which includes projects (including security projects, whereby we must think of armed guards, electrified fences and perhaps even specially trained attack dogs) in the Israeli settlements funds and, according to an article in the New York Times, also is used by Israeli settlers to flow out tax free money which by detour is being refunded to them again.

And by this man, MPs (including Minister Rosenthal, see my previous article about PMW) allow themselves to be guided. Worth mentioning: Marcus gives a lecture for Christians for Israel in Nijkerk tomorrow.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi was received by the Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal in The Hague.

The Commissioner-General briefed the Foreign Minister on UNRWA operations throughout the region, including the Agency's reform plans, as well as progress on the Dutch reconstruction project in the Gaza Strip.

He thanked the Foreign Minister for the consistent Dutch support to UNRWA. The Netherlands are UNRWA's eighth-largest donor overall and have played a key role in supporting the Agency as a member of its Advisory Commission since 2005.

“An Israeli attack unites Iran in fury, locks in the Islamic Republic for a generation, cements the Syrian regime, radicalizes the Arab world at a moment of delicate transition, ignites Hezbollah on the Lebanese border, boosts Hamas, endangers U.S. troops in the region, sparks terrorism, propels oil skyward, triggers a possible regional war, offers a lifeline to Iran just as Europe is about to stop buying its oil, adds a Persian to the Arab vendetta against Israel, and may at best set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions a couple of years.”

An angry protest was held outside the parliament in The Hague on Thursday to condemn the visit made by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and demand his arrest for war crimes against the Palestinians.

Protestors from Palestine, the Netherlands, and Arab countries participated in the rally carrying banners and pictures describing Netanyahu as "terrorist" and wanted for justice, and calling for his arrest as a "war criminal".

Many other slogans were also chanted against Netanyahu in protest of his visit.

For his part, Viem Lankamp, the head of Palestine league in Netherlands, strongly denounced

the visit of Netanyahu and demanded his immediate arrest and prosecution for the war crimes he committed against the Palestinians in Gaza and for other violations.

A Dutch lawmaker is calling on Israel to continue building Jewish-only colonies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, in violation of international law. Raymond de Roon, a member of Geert Wilders’ extreme anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian Freedom Party – known by its Dutch initials PVV – tweeted: “Today I ask Netanyahu in parliament for Israel to continue building in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as long as Palestinians hinder peace.”

Israel’s settlement construction in the occupied West Bank – what Israel calls “Judea and Samaria” – is universally condemned as illegal under international law. In particular, it violates the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention which protects civilians in occupied territories. Article 49 of the Convention States:

Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Israel’s settlement program has often involved the forced removal or exclusion of Palestinians from their lands, as territory is seized for Jewish-only settlements.

The UN Security Council has affirmed the criminality of Israel’s settlement enterprise on numerous occasions. Resolution 465 of 1980 for example begins by:

Affirming once more that the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 is applicable to the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem,

Deploring the decision of the Government of Israel to officially support Israeli settlement in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967,

Deeply concerned over the practices of the Israeli authorities in implementing that settlement policy in the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and its consequences for the local Arab and Palestinian population,

And then:

Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel’s policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

Strongly deplores the continuation and persistence of Israel in pursuing those policies and practices and calls upon the Government and people of Israel to rescind those measures, to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;

Calls upon all States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connexion with settlements in the occupied territories;

Palestinians in Holland have declared their intention to seek a court order for the arrest of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to the Netherlands scheduled to start on Thursday.

The Palestinian home, a society formed by Palestinians living in the Netherlands, said in a statement on Wednesday that it would seek the court order in view of the Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity during the latest war on Gaza.

It said that Netanyahu’s visit to Amsterdam, the headquarters of the International Criminal Court, posed as a blatant challenge to this court and to what it represents.

The statement recalled that the Israeli war machine killed 1400 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and innocent civilians, in the course of three weeks of “genocide” against Gaza in 2008-2009 that also devastated the Strip’s infrastructure, places of worship, and hospitals.

It pointed to the Goldstone report that condemned Israel for committing war crimes in that war, calling for reactivating the report and prosecuting the Israeli leaders for involvement in crimes against humanity.

The society drew the attention to the new Israeli threats of waging a fresh and more brutal aggression Gaza within the few coming months, adding that the lack of concrete legal steps against Israel encouraged it to commit more crimes.

We learn that Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, on January 19 will be visiting our country. The prospect of his coming brings commotion in the ranks of the fighters for international law. When Netanyahu's visit was announced earlier in November, some argued that this visitor to undesirable alien must be explained and thus sent home. Under his responsibility, because many offenses committed against the international law. By the Charter of the United Nations and binding resolutions of the Security Council. But also against a range of international treaties is the responsibility of the state of Israel has committed itself. The Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, for example. And many others, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Anti-Folterverdrag.

So no access to the visitor and certainly not with red carpets and champagne, in the opinion of many. Arrest on Dutch territory would also be an option, it has been suggested, though, because of Netanyahu's diplomatic immunity is not possible.

But we choose a different treatment. The government and parliament to the next meeting with Mr. Netanyahu to seize him firmly to the Levites to read. Among others were the Israeli prime minister to hold this question: "How can you insist on resuming peace talks with the Palestinians to achieve the two-state solution (which you've said a favor) when full, and even at an accelerated pace continues to build and expand settlements in the already more than forty years occupied territories, East Jerusalem and the West Bank of the Jordan? You want to negotiate a cake that you will eagerly engaged himself to eat! "

There are more pressing questions for Prime Minister Netanyahu. The European Union, yes the Netherlands, Israel has repeatedly urged an end to the strangling blockade of Gaza. Urgent requests that the Prime Minister always laid aside as a bird that removes water from the springs but just shaking. How is this arrogant dismissal to unite with the relentless efforts of Israel and of you, Dr. Rosenthal, for Israel's relations with the EU even further screws? Israel's relations with the Netherlands are already rapidly deepened and broadened, probably during the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu, without you requirements in respect to Israel's human rights behavior and engagement in the peace process.

Allow us, Dr. Rosenthal, You also made some suggestions to present which, if realized, the visit of Israeli Prime valuable could make. You are part of the government of a country that not only the cradle, but with become inappropriate pride, also called the guardian and the focus of international law. Give Netanyahu a day or so extra hospitality. That would give him the opportunity to make his appearance at the World Court in The Hague resident, there to explain why Israel is not a mite care about the delivery of that court in 2004 on the Wall, also called "separation barrier" mentioned.

Perhaps Mr. Netanyahu in an effort to sit through a visit to the International Criminal Court. He can explain why the State of Israel, in contrast to all EU Member States and many other countries, withdraw from the jurisdiction of that court . And, why so many Israelis walk freely with probability bordering on certainty of having committed war crimes, including the deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians. Many cases have been documented by Israeli human rights organizations.

At a little longer stay in the Netherlands, the Prime Minister of Israel also keep a nomination for an authoritative audience of listeners involved in disarmament and arms control. This can then be dealt with why Israel has for decades has a substantial arsenal of nuclear weaponry, but not to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Clingendael Institute and the Dutch Society for International Affairs would this stage offer. Would also be asked why Israel's war drums stir vis-à-vis Iran, while the self allows no international monitoring of its own atomic arsenal, nor of other mass destruction weapons possession.

So let Mr. Netanyahu and his welcome the opportunity also to communicate with others than residents of the Courtyard. His visit, then elsewhere there may, for himself and for others educational experiences.